No 'us' in stimulus?

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGEThe Associated Press

Tuesday

May 12, 2009 at 2:25 AM

SAINT MARYS, Pa. - Wendy Cameron has heard President Barack Obama's promise that his $787 billion stimulus plan will create jobs, but the 50-year-old laid-off factory worker still can't get a paycheck in her north central Pennsylvania town.

Each week, millions of dollars worth of new transportation projects are announced across the country, all paid for with stimulus money. But so far, Elk County, with its 13.8 percent unemployment rate hasn't seen any ground breakings or road money.

Instead, an Associated Press analysis of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects shows that the recovery plan shortchanges Elk County and others that need jobs the most. The AP review found that states are planning to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than it will in communities with the highest.

One result: While Elk County is passed over for road money despite its climbing unemployment rate, the military and college community of Riley County, Kan., with its 3.4 percent unemployment, will benefit from about $56 million to build a highway, improve an intersection and restore a historic farmhouse.

"Why are they helping them?" asked Cameron, who said she'd gladly take road work while she trains for a career in nursing. "They're not in need. We are."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the findings don't mean that the neediest communities will not benefit.

"Just because a road project is in one part of one county doesn't mean the benefits of those jobs created or the economic impact of that spending is simply isolated to that one area," he said.

Others responded to the analysis Monday with concerns about the way the administration has represented stimulus spending and its effect on areas hardest hit by unemployment.

"To some extent, I think the administration oversold the transportation aspect of this," said Jim Berard, spokesman for Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "It was sold as the heart and soul of the package, and it really just isn't."

The AP reviewed $18.9 billion in projects. They account for about half of the money set aside for states and local governments to spend on roads, bridges and infrastructure in the stimulus plan.

The very promise that Obama made, to spend money quickly and create jobs, is locking out many struggling communities needing those jobs.

The money goes to projects ready to start. But many struggling communities don't have projects waiting. They couldn't afford the millions of dollars for preparation and plans that often is required.

"It's not fair," said Martin Schuller, the borough manager in the Elk County seat of Ridgway, who commiserates about the inequity in highway aid with colleagues in nearby towns. "It's a joke because we're not going to get it, because we don't have any projects ready to go."

To determine whether there was a disparity in where the money would go, the AP divided the nation's counties into four groups by unemployment levels. The analysis found that, no matter how the early money is measured, communities suffering most fare the worst:

High-unemployment counties, those in the top quarter of jobless rates, are allotted about 16 percent of the money, compared with about 20 percent for areas least affected by joblessness.

In low-unemployment counties nationwide, those in the bottom quarter of jobless rates, the federal government is spending about $89 a person compared with $59 a person in the worst-hit areas.

In counties with the largest populations, the government is spending about $69 a person in areas with the lowest unemployment and $40 a person in places with the greatest job need.

Counties with the highest unemployment are most likely to have been passed over completely in the early spending.

"The bill is not addressing where the money is needed to go, but just addressing, 'Let's get this money out of here as quickly as we can,' " said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

Elizabeth Oxhorn, a spokeswoman for the White House recovery effort, said Monday that transportation money is only part of a stimulus package that will benefit "as many Americans as possible."

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